Dead Dell Vostro 200

My fiancee bought a Dell Vostro 200 Slim a little over a year ago and it's been having problems booting up. It initially did not boot into Windows, sticking at the Dell BIOS screen (big Dell logo) and a quick look at the Dell forums indicated it was an issue with a external hard drive being connected to it. That seemed to cure the problem until yesterday when it wouldn't boot with only a keyboard and monitor attached to it. Further digging in the Dell forums revealed that she may have a problem with a bad motherboard.

Now Dell won't talk to me, because she's three months out of warranty. And a replacement motherboard from Dell costs almost $200. So here are the options I assume I have:

1) I buy a replacement motherboard from Dell or eBay ($100-120) but I run the risk of getting another bad board.

2) I use the components (proc, RAM, HD) and get another mobo, case and PS and build another computer.

3) I just order another computer, possible another Dell from their outlet store.


Which is my best option?

Slim eh? Hm... If you decide on option 3, don't get another slim. I've seen more problems with their slim configs than their standard ones, hehe. Though, thats anecdotal, so take it at that.

Option 2 would cost around $125. Option 1 would cost around $80 off of eBay, but as you say, run the risk of getting another bad board, or the board going bad soon thereafter. You'll probably have to pay more for a board with better warranty. So, in that case, I'd go for option 2, if you have the time.

What's her service tag? you'll probably need a G33 or G31 board.

$80 - COMBO: Antec Three Hundred Mid Tower + Antec Earthwatts EA380 380W

One of these should work...
$65 - Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L LGA 775 Intel G41 Micro ATX
$45 - Biostar G31D-M7 LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX

G41 is G31's replacement... no real reason to choose it unless you like it more than the Biostar board, hehe. One thing you will have to do is re-activate windows, which might require a call into MS. If so, simply explain that you replaced your motherboard, but you kept everything else the same, including the CPU, RAM, vidcard, case, and PSU.